I own nothing but my OC.
Chapter 2: Graduation
The next day…
Naruto and April were both feeling excited and a little nervous as they sat in the classroom waiting for Iruka-sensei to get started.
'This is it, the day I finally become a real ninja…!' April thought happily with a silly grin on her face. She had to really bust her butt in order to catch up with the others, who had been training for years, but it was so totally worth it!
"We will now start the final exam." Iruka announced. "When your name is called, come to the room next door. To graduate, you'll have to perform the 'clone jutsu'."
'Oh, no! Not that one!' Naruto cried internally, breaking out into a nervous sweat. 'That's my worst skill!'
'They just had to pick the one thing that gives both of us the most trouble…' April thought, letting out a disappointed sigh. She clenched her firsts and steeled her resolve. "All right, now that it's come to this… we'll just have to do it!" She said determinedly. "It's not over till the fat lady sings, right, Naruto?"
"Right!" Naruto said, also clenching his fists, as he swallowed the lump in his throat. April was right! They'd pull it off somehow! Just watch!
They didn't seem to be calling names in alphabetical order, because Naruto's name ended up being called before April's.
"Good luck, Naruto! Do your best!" April encouraged him, hoping they would both manage to make it.
"Yeah, you too." Naruto said as he got up and headed for the door. April glanced around the empty classroom when he was gone.
'Looks like I'm the only one left.' She thought, resting her head on her hand for a moment. She wondered if they were saving her for last because she was an outsider…
"April Starr!"
"Y-Yeah, coming!" She said, nearly falling over in her haste to get up. It was finally her turn!
April walked into the next classroom, where Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei were waiting. She took a deep, calming breathe and exhaled, centering herself so she could focus. She raised her hands and formed the hand seal. "Clone Jutsu!" When the puff of smoke cleared, there were two Aprils standing before them. They both looked equally solid and perfectly identical.
"Well done." Iruka said, a little relieved. Much better than Naruto. Considering that she had only been with them for a year and her low chakra levels, she had done very well. "You pass." He told her with a smile.
"Yeeessss~!!" April cheered as she let her clone vanish in a poof, literally jumping for joy. She was just about to break out into a victory dance, when Mizuki-sensei spoke up.
"Hold on, Iruka-sensei." He said, stopping her in her tracks. "Although she did manage to replicate, she only produced one clone, and you just failed Naruto for the reason."
"What?" April asked, staring at Iruka in shock. How could he…!?
"That was different." Iruka said a bit defensively. "Naruto's clone was useless, whereas April's clone was flawless. What she lacked in quantity, she made up for with quality. And unlike Naruto, who has below average grades in every subject, she has above average grades in most subjects and advanced skills in Taijutsu. Remember, there is a precedent for a student being allowed to pass because—"
"Sensei." April interrupted him with a troubled expression on her face. Iruka stopped, surprised. "Is it true you failed Naruto?" She asked grimly.
"Yes." He replied a bit regretfully. "I'm sorry, but I just couldn't pass him. He wasn't ready. I'm afraid it would be too dangerous if we sent him out on missions the way he is now." April lowered her head sadly.
"Then…" She said after a moment of silence had passed. "You shouldn't pass me either."
"April!" Iruka said, taken aback.
"But it's not fair!" She said, raising her head to meet his eyes. "I can tell from the fact that there are only two forehead protectors left, that if I pass, then Naruto will be the only one who failed. It may seem like he's always goofing off, but Naruto was working really hard! I know, because the two of us trained together!"
"April." Iruka said firmly. "I know you're upset, but believe it or not, this is fair. You demonstrated one of my reasons for passing you just now. You're very sharp and observant. And even though you have the less chakra than the rest of your classmates, you've managed to reach the senior level in only one year. Do you know how rare that is?"
"Ah, that's true…" Mizuki said thoughtfully. It was especially remarkable considering she wasn't even from a ninja family and had been raised outside of the village. That she could reach this level after starting out with virtually nothing in such a short amount of time was a testament to her skill and talent… but with her low chakra levels, she had probably already reached the extent of her abilities.
"But—" April said hesitantly.
"April, I know you don't want to hurt Naruto, but holding yourself back won't help him." Iruka said gently but firmly. "And if he finds out that you chose to stay back for his sake, he won't thank you for it. If anything, it'll make him feel worse. You know that, don't you?"
"Yes." April answered reluctantly but honestly, furrowing her brow. "Thank you, Sensei." She said solemnly, bowing, as she accepted her forehead protector.
–∞–
While he was waiting for April to finish, Naruto was sitting on the swing hanging from a tree outside the front of the academy. Watching all of the other kids smiling proudly while they showed their parents their new forehead protectors only made him feel even worse.
"Great job! That's my son!"
"Now you're a man!"
"I'm so proud of you! I'm going to make your favorite dinner tonight."
"Hey, that kid…" One of the mothers, who was wearing a headband, said when she noticed Naruto sitting a couple yards away, all alone.
"Yeah, that's the kid." Another mother, who was clearly a friend of hers said disdainfully. "And I heard he's also the only one who failed."
"Well, that's a good thing." The woman in the headband said as they both glared at him coldly. "He shouldn't become a shinobi, since he's—"
"Shh! We're not supposed to talk about that."
–∞–
When April came out, she found the swing empty. Naruto wasn't hiding in the tree either.
"Good riddance." She heard one of the adults say. April turned and shot them a glare before marching off to find her friend. That was the only thing she didn't like about this village. For some reason, most of the adults treated Naruto like dirt, and this discrimination had rubbed off on their children, so Naruto had always been alone before she came. She didn't blame him for not wanting to wait around. Not only did he have to deal with that sort of nonsense, but there were a lot of families there. She knew from personal experience how hard it could be having to watch that when you didn't have one of your own. After her own parents died… April shook her head. 'No, no! How can you cheer Naruto up if you let yourself get depressed over something like this!' She scolded herself, clapping her hands on her cheeks to snap herself out of it as she kept going.
"Iruka, I need to talk to you." The Third Hokage said, having seen the whole thing.
"Yes, sir." Iruka replied dutifully.
–∞–
"Naruto-kun." A familiar voice called out, stopping the boy in his tracks.
"Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto said, surprised to see a teacher instead. If anyone would have come after him, he thought it would be April.
"Were you expecting someone else?" Mizuki asked with a smile. Naruto looked away. "April-chan also passed." Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he looked back up at him. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a word with you."
"Iruka-sensei is a serious person." Mizuki began once they had climbed up onto a ledge overlooking the village to talk. "His parents were killed when he was young, and he had to take care of everything himself."
"But why does he only pick on me!?" Naruto mumbled, furrowing his brow, as he watched the streets start to empty with the setting of the sun. He thought he could see April's purple pigtails in the distance, but he didn't feel like talking to her at the moment, not after hearing that she had passed without him. He knew she deserved it, but that didn't make it any easier to accept his own defeat.
"He probably sees himself in you." Mizuki answered Naruto, surprising him.
"He's probably thinking that he wants to see you become strong in the real way. Try to understand Iruka's feelings, since you also have no parents."
"But…" Naruto said, sounding like he was trying not to cry. "I wanted to graduate." Even April had left him behind.
"In that case…" Mizuki said.
"Huh?"
"I'll tell you a special secret."
–∞–
April frowned as she stared down at the empty seat at the table across from her and looked out the window. It was dark outside, and the moon was already pretty high in the sky. She had thought Naruto would at least return home when it was time to eat, since she usually made dinner, but he hadn't been in his apartment, either… She decided to cover the food and keep looking.
–∞–
Meanwhile, Naruto had decided to act on the information given to him by Mizuki-sensei, and was doing his best to stealthily sneak into the Hokage's residence.
"What are you doing in my house at this hour?" The Hokage asked from behind, startling him.
"!" Naruto flinched guiltily. "Sex Jutsu!!" He shouted quickly as he spun around to face the old man, transforming.
"Wah!?" The Hokage cried out as he was floored by the technique. Naruto used the opportunity to run away, leaving the old man behind in a pool of blood from his nosebleed. He snuck into the scroll room and began searching for the one Mizuki-sensei had mentioned.
'Found it!!' He thought excitedly. Naruto grabbed the large scroll and left, unaware that he was being watched.
Mizuki smirked from the shadows as he watched Naruto go.
"Ah, there you are!" Someone shouted, freezing Naruto in his tracks. He couldn't believe he had been caught already! He turned to look down and saw that it was only April.
"Oh, good. It's only you…" Naruto said, letting out a huge sigh of relief.
"What are you doing? I've been looking all over for you!" She scolded him with her hands on her hips. "You really had me worried, you know!"
"Shh! Not so loud!" Naruto whisper-yelled. "I'm on a secret mission right now! I have to study this secret scroll…"
"Secret scroll?" April asked with sparkling eyes, lighting up immediately upon hearing those magic words. Naruto smirked. He knew that would get her attention.
"Yeah, Mizuki-sensei said that if I can learn at least one of the techniques in this scroll, then they'll let me graduate!" He explained with a grin.
"That's great!" April said. Something felt a little off, but she just couldn't say no to a secret scroll. "Well, what are we waiting for, let's go!" The two of them quickly and quietly stole off together to find a safe place to study and practice.
"Let's see…" Naruto said as they opened the Scroll of Sealing. "The first justu is 'shadow clone jutsu'? What the…!! Why does it start with the thing I'm bad at!?" He asked incredulously.
"Again?" April asked, sweat-dropping. Did this kid run over karma's dog in another life or something?
–∞–
As Iruka lay in bed, staring up at the moon through the window by his head, he recalled his earlier conversation with the Hokage.
"Iruka…"
"Yes, Hokage-sama?"
"I understand how you feel… but Naruto also had to grow up without knowing the love of a parent. The two of you are very similar."
He knew the Hokage was right. He had begun to realize that for himself, but… he just couldn't forget that horrible night when the nine-tailed fox attacked, and he was forced to flee while his parents died fighting it…
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Iruka was startled out of his silent reverie by a loud banging on his door.
"What is it?" Iruka asked as he answered the door, surprised to see Mizuki outside his home so late at night.
"We must go to Hokage-sama's place at once!!" Mizuki said urgently. "Naruto has… taken the scroll of the forbidden seal!"
"!!" Iruka gasped in shock. He and Mizuki quickly rushed over to meet with the Hokage, where many other ninja had already been gathered.
"Hokage-sama, we can't let this slide by as a prank!!" One of the men said, clenching his fist.
"Yes, that is a dangerous scroll forbidden by the previous Hokage." The Third said thoughtfully. "If used in a certain way, it could cause incredible danger… It's been half a night since the scroll was taken. We must hurry and find Naruto!!"
"Yes, sir!" The ninja responded dutifully, scattering in all directions to begin their search.
'Where could he be…?' Iruka wondered, breathing heavily from the effort of sprinting around the village. He had already checked to make sure Naruto hadn't just gone home, and he couldn't ask April, because she wasn't home either! Could the two of them be together? But he hadn't spotted wither of them at any of their usual haunts… 'I'd better check the woods!' He decided.
'I'll spread the word through out the village a little more.' Mizuki thought as he ran. 'Then I'll get rid of Naruto and make it look like he disappeared with that scroll.'
–∞–
April and Naruto were panting from all the effort they had been putting into trying to learn that one technique.
"I don't know… about you… but I'm kinda worn out." April said tiredly.
"I… could… go for some ramen." Naruto said, earning a growl from both of their empty stomachs. Come to think of it, neither one of them had eaten dinner any dinner yet…
"!" They both perked up when they a shadow fell over them.
"Hey, Naruto... April…" Iruka-sensei said a little ominously as he loomed over them, looking extremely irritated and a bit sweaty.
"Hey! I found the nose-bleeder!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at their teacher with a cheeky grin on his face.
"Baka!! I found you!!" Iruka snapped back with a vein throbbing on his temple. "!" He said when he noticed the state that the two kids were in. They were both sweaty and covered in dirt.
"Hehe… It looks like we've been caught, Naruto!" April said with a wry smile and nervous laugh, while Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Haha, yeah…" He agreed a bit sheepishly. "And I only learned one thing."
"Hey! You two look all beaten up, what were you doing out here?" Iruka asked.
"Nevermind that!" Naruto said, getting excited. "Hey, hey! I'm going to try an incredible jutsu, so let me graduate if I can do it!"
'So… they were practicing here?' Iruka thought, surprised, as he watched April step back to give Naruto some room while he formed a hand seal and focused his chakra. 'Enough to damage their bodies…' "Naruto." He said, breaking the boy's concentration.
"Hn?" Naruto said, glancing up at him.
"Where did you get that scroll?" Iruka asked.
"Oh, this?" Naruto asked, turning his head to look at the huge scroll on his back.
"Didn't you say Mizuki-sensei gave it to you?" April said.
"No, but he told me about it, and this place too." Naruto explained before turning back to Iruka-sensei. "He told me that if I showed you a technique from this scroll, I'd definitely graduate!" Iruka gasped in astonishment.
'Mizuki did!?' He thought, taken aback. Then…
"Sensei?" April asked, wondering what was wrong. She didn't like the look on Iruka-sensei's face. "Is something—!?" She and Iruka both gasped and whipped their heads around when they suddenly sensed a killing intent. Her eyes widened in surprise when Iruka suddenly shoved her and Naruto away.
FWIP. FWIP. FWIP. THUD! THUD! THUD!
"Iruka-sensei!" April yelled alarm, recovering first, when she saw that he had been pinned to the wall of the abandoned shed they had been standing in front of.
"Nice job finding the moron!" Mizuki complimented his fellow teacher cynically from his perch in the tree above. He hadn't expected the little outsider girl to be there. Oh well, he'd just have to kill her too and make it look like they ran off together.
"I see… so that's what's going on…" Iruka said, grunting in pain. April furrowed her brow and grit her teeth as she glared up at Mizuki.
"Naruto, give me the scroll!" Mizuki said sternly.
"Huh, what!? What's going on here!!?" Naruto asked, completely bewildered. Why was Mizuki-sensei attacking Iruka-sensei!?
"It looks like Mizuki-sensei was just using you." April said, clenching her fist.
"What!?" Naruto shouted, flinching in shock.
"Naruto! April! Whatever happens, don't let him get the scroll!!" Iruka said urgently, wincing, as he pulled out one of the kunai. "That's a dangerous scroll that has forbidden ninjutsu written inside it! Mizuki used you… to get his hands on it!!"
'Forbidden?' April thought, surprised. Why was it forbidden? Well, she supposed that didn't really matter right now. The important thing was not to let the scroll fall into the wrong hands. She and Naruto both furrowed their brows and took up a fighting stance. April carefully moved over to Iruka-sensei's side so she could pull out a stray kunai that was stuck in the shed wall to use as a weapon.
"Naruto, there's no point in you having it." Mizuki said with a twisted smirk. "I'll tell you the truth."
"!!" Iruka gasped. He wouldn't! "N-No!! Don't!!" He yelled anxiously at Mizuki. If Naruto found out…
"Twelve years ago… you kids know about the demon fox being sealed, right?" Mizuki asked.
"?" Naruto and April frowned, wondering where he was going with this. Why was Iruka-sensei so freaked out?
"Since that day… a special rule was created for this village." Mizuki continued.
"… A rule?" Naruto asked.
"But this rule was never meant to be told to you."
"Not to me? What is this rule!?" Naruto demanded. "Tell me!!" Mizuki just laughed.
"What… kind of rule?" April asked warily. She really didn't like the look in his eyes.
"The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that Naruto is the nine-tailed demon fox!" Mizuki revealed maliciously, enjoying the stunned looks on the children's faces.
'No way…' April thought, glancing at the younger boy. Naruto a demon? Sure, he was a handful, but there wasn't an evil bone in his body!
"What?" Naruto asked numbly. "What did you say?" He didn't want to believe it, but the way all of the adults looked at him…
"Stop it!!" Iruka yelled desperately.
"Don't listen anymore, Naruto!" April said earnestly, seeing the toll Mizuki's words were having on him. "I'm sure he's just—"
"It means that you are the nine-tailed demon fox that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village!!" Mizuki told Naruto, cutting her off.
"I said, stop!!" Iruka yelled.
"You were sealed up by the Hokage you admire, and you have been lied to by everyone this whole time!!" Mizuki continued, ignoring them. "Didn't you find it strange how everyone hates you? Iruka is the same!! He also hates you!! And now that she knows you're a monster, do you think that outsider will stay friends with you!?"
"Shut up!!" April snapped angrily. Mizuki had no idea how lucky he was that he was out of her reach at the moment! "Speak for your—!?" She and Iruka both gasped in surprise when they suddenly felt Naruto release a huge amount of chakra. The energy swirled up in a circle around his feet. It was so strong, that it actually created a gust of wind and blew his hair up.
"Dammit!" Naruto cursed miserably, gritting his teeth.
"Naruto…!" April cried.
"Nobody will ever love you!!" Mizuki shouted at him. Iruka grit his teeth as he remembered more of the words the Hokage had told him.
He's never known a parent's love, and is hated by the villagers. So to get attention… he causes a lot of trouble. He wants people to acknowledge his existence, in any way possible. Even though, he finally managed to make a friend after meeting April, they are both treated like outsiders.
"That scroll was used to seal you up!" Mizuki yelled as he grabbed one of the giant shuriken on his back and threw it at Naruto.
"Nooo!!" April screamed, rushing towards him.
He acts tough, but he is truly suffering… They both are.
April threw herself in front of Naruto to shield him.
RIIP!!
"Ugh…" Iruka groaned in pain as blood began to dye his flak jacket red around the giant shuriken that was sticking out of his back. Naruto and April's eyes widened in horror as he coughed, and blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth. A the very last minute, Iruka had managed to rip himself free and tackle his students to the ground to protect them.
"!" Mizuki grit his teeth, disappointed that he had failed.
"Why…?" Naruto asked, looking torn.
"My… My parents… after they died, there was nobody to compliment me or acknowledge me…" Iruka said, gritting his teeth through the pain. "I always acted like an idiot, just to get people's attention… Since I wasn't good at things like learning and doing homework… it was better than nothing, so I kept acting like an idiot. It was so painful…" He could still remember how it felt to be sitting at home all alone. A tear drop landed on Naruto's face. "Naruto, you also must have been in a lot of pain." Iruka said sorrowfully as tears streamed down his face. "I'm sorry, Naruto. If only I did a better job… you wouldn't have to feel like this. Neither of you would…"
'Iruka-sensei…' April thought, fighting back tears of her own. 'He's had a hard time as well…'
"…" Mizuki grit his teeth. His face twisted into a sneer as he watched the touching scene below. Naruto looked from Iruka to Mizuki, then back at April. She nodded in understanding. She pushed herself up so he could shoot out from under her, taking off with the scroll as fast as he could.
"Naruto!" Iruka yelled.
April quickly pulled herself out from underneath him and hopped to her feet, taking up a defensive stance to protect their injured teacher as Mizuki jumped down to stand before them.
"How sweet. Are you trying to buy time for your little friend to get away?" Mizuki asked April mockingly. "Heheheh. But Naruto isn't the type of person to have a change of heart. And I think he's planning to use that scroll to take revenge on the village. You both saw his eyes earlier, didn't you? The eyes of a real demon."
"Don't move, Sensei." April said coolly, gripping the kunai she had grabbed earlier firmly in her hand. Despite her anger at Mizuki, she appeared calm and collected. "You'll make your injury worse. We both know Naruto isn't like that."
"Guh!" Iruka ignored her advice and reached up to rip the giant shuriken out of his back. "That's right…" He said, grunting, as he forced himself back onto his feet. "It's exactly as you said, April-chan… Naruto won't do that!" He shouted, throwing the giant shuriken back at Mizuki as hard as he could.
"Hmph!" Mizuki dodged the attack with ease. "Well, that doesn't really matter. I'll kill Naruto and get the scroll. I'll take care of you later!" He said, leaping up and away to pursue Naruto.
"Ugh." Iruka fell to his knees again. "I won't let you…!"
"That goes without saying." April agreed determinedly as she pulled out her forehead protector and put it on. "Sensei, I know you're injured, but have an idea…"
–∞–
"I finally found him!" The Third said as he looked into a special crystal ball. "Mizuki told him… Now he is more afraid and unstable than ever before. That power that has been sealed might be released. Plus, he is holding the Scroll of Sealing…" 'The odds of him being able to break the seal and change into the nine-tailed fox are one in a million…' He thought grimly. 'But it is possible… and if that happens…'
–∞–
'Found him!' Iruka thought when he caught sight of Naruto running through the treetops with the large scroll on his back. "Naruto!!" He called out, getting the boy's attention as he caught up to him. "What Mizuki said back there was all a lie! He's coming after you! Hurry up and give me the scroll!" Naruto grit his teeth as he pushed off of the branch he was on and shot straight at Iruka, head-butting him.
"Agh!" Iruka grunted in pain as he slammed into the ground, skidding to a rough stop, while Naruto flipped and landed gracefully on his feet.
"Huh?" Iruka said, panting. "Why… Naruto?" He asked weakly, trembling as he struggled to pick himself up. "How did you know I wasn't Iruka?" He demanded darkly, dropping the act as he turned back into his true form as Mizuki. Since when could that kid move like that?
"Heh." Naruto smirked.
"You little—Ah!!" Mizuki cried out in pain as two kunai nailed him in the shoulder.
"Because I'm Iruka!" Iruka-sensei said from his perch in the tree above.
"What!?" Mizuki exclaimed as he jumped back, holding his injured shoulder. His eyes widened in realization. "Then—"
"That's right!" April shouted with a devious grin as she dropped the transformation jutsu and lunged at him, closing the gap between them in an instant, hitting him with enough power to break his nose. The two of them had worked together to set up an ambush.
"Arrghhh!" Mizuki screamed, sliding backwards from the force of her blow, as he cradled his injured face. That little bitch…!
"Now back off before I really mess you up!" April declared boldly, taking up an offensive position as she waited for another opening while Iruka climbed down from the tree.
"!" The real Naruto's grip tightened on the scroll as he listened from his hiding spot behind another tree. He had thought April was going to stay behind with Iruka-sensei while he ran ahead.
"Hmph! I might have expected this from the outsider…" Mizuki sneered as he glared at April and Iruka. "But what good is there in protecting the thing who killed your parents?" He asked Iruka cynically. The wounded man had to lean against the tree just to support himself.
"I'm not going to hand the scroll over to someone like you!!" Iruka said through labored breathing, wincing slightly.
"You idiot!" Mizuki snapped. "Naruto and I are the same."
"!" Iruka said. "Same as you?"
"If you use the skills in that scroll, you can do whatever you want!!" Mizuki said with a crazed, power-hungry look in his eyes. "There's no way the demon fox wouldn't try to use the power of the scroll!"
"Yeah…" Iruka agreed quietly, shocking Naruto. Naruto furrowed his brow, scowling. That had cut even deeper than he thought it would.
'I knew it…' He thought. "…Even Iruka-sensei, deep down… doesn't acknowledge me." He didn't hear April denying it either.
"The demon fox would do that." Iruka continued. "But Naruto is different… He's… He's an excellent student that I recognize." He finished proudly with a smirk. Naruto bowed his head as he gripped the scroll. "He may not be the hardest worker…" Iruka said. "And he is clumsy, and no one accepts him… but he's earnest and knows the pain of others. He isn't the demon fox. He is a member of the Hidden Leaf Village! He's Naruto Uzumaki!!"
"That's right." April agreed with a smirk of her own. "Naruto is my friend. He's like the annoying little brother I never had. I don't care what's inside of him. Naruto is Naruto!" Tears were streaming down Naruto's face as he clutched the scroll, trembling from the strength of the emotions he was feeling.
They really did accept him, April and Iruka-sensei… He wasn't alone anymore!
"…!" Mizuki furrowed his brow and grit his teeth in frustration. There was no getting through to these two… "Well, whatever…" He said, taking another giant shuriken off his back.
"!" Iruka tried to move, but it was too much for him in his current state, and he fell back against the trunk of the tree. "Agh!"
"Don't move, Sensei." April said, pulling the kunai from earlier out of her pocket. "This time, I'll protect you."
"April, don't!"
"Hmph, How touching!" Mizuki sneered. "I said I would take care of the two of you later, but I've changed my mind—Hurry up and die!!" He roared, spinning the shuriken as he prepared to throw it. April's grip tightened on the kunai as she braced herself for the attack, but it never came. In an orange blur, Naruto suddenly shot out from behind the tree and head-butted Mizuki with enough force to send the older ninja flying black.
"!!" Mizuki and Iruka gasped in surprised as Naruto slid to a halt and stood up straight, resting on hand on the scroll.
"Naruto!" April said, relieved. It was about time! She thought she sensed a fourth person hiding nearby.
"… You shouldn't have done that!!" Mizuki said darkly as he picked himself up off the ground. He was sick and tired of these little punks making a fool out of him!
"Don't touch them!!" Naruto said fiercely, glaring at Mizuki. "I'll kill you!!"
"You idiot!!" Iruka yelled anxiously. "Why did you come out!!? Run away, both of you!!"
"It's all right, Sensei." April said with a smirk as she stepped up to stand beside Naruto. "Together, we can take him down."
"Hahaha! I can kill two brats like you in one shot!!" Mizuki laughed mockingly.
"Try it, trash!!" Naruto snapped, forming a hand seal. April decided to follow his lead. "I'll return the pain a thousand times over!!"
"Then do it, demon fox!" Mizuki snarled.
"!" Iruka gasped when he realized what they up to. It couldn't be…!?
"Shadow clone jutsu!!" They shouted as the smoke cleared.
"!!!" Mizuki yelled, startled to find himself surrounded by ten Aprils and hundreds of Naurtos. "Wha…!? What's going on!!?" He demanded nervously when he realized they had him completely surrounded and hopelessly outmatched. The two of them could barely even make one clone before!
"What's wrong?" Naruto and his shadow clones asked mockingly as they rolled up their sleeves. "Weren't you going to kill us in one shot?"
'Naruto… April…' Iruka thought, stunned by the amazing sight before him. 'You guys have…'
"Well, then… If you won't come to us… Then I guess we'll have to come at you!" April and her shadow clones said with an angel smile on their faces and a devilish gleam in their eyes.
"Wuaaaaah!" Mizuki screamed as they all lunged at him to attack.
WHAM! BAM! WHAM! WHACK!
'Heheh, he really did divide into more than thousand…' Iruka thought proudly as he watched his students beat the crap out of Mizuki. 'Maybe Naruto really will surpass the Hokage… And ten clones isn't bad for someone with April's low chakra. That's a high level technique where you create a real body.' He was impressed the two of were able to pull that off.
"Hehe… Maybe we went a little to too far." Naruto said a bit sheepishly once they had finished wailing on Mizuki. He was out cold, and his once good-looking face was so swollen now that it looked like something only a mother could love.
"Nah." April said dismissively. "He's still breathing, isn't he? More importantly, are you all right, Iruka-sensei?"
"Yes, I'm fine." Iruka reassured them with a wry smile. 'Wow… Remind me not to get on her bad side…' He thought, sweat-dropping. "Good job, you two." He added as the sun began to rise. "Naruto, come over here. There's something I want to give you."
–∞–
Meanwhile, the other ninjas were still up in arms about Naruto's disappearance and the missing scroll.
"Did anyone find him!?"
"No!!"
"Damn it!! This is bad!!"
"He could be far away by now!!"
"There's nothing to worry about." The Hokage said as he stepped outside to address them.
"!?"
"Hokage-sama?"
"He'll be back soon." The old man said with a knowing smile.
–∞–
"Now, Sensei?" Naruto asked with eyes still closed.
"Okay, you can open your eyes." Iruka said. Naruto opened his eyes to see that Iruka and April were both smiling proudly at him. He noticed Iruka was now holding his goggles, but he could still feel something on his forehead… and Iruka wasn't wearing his own forehead protector anymore.
"Congratulations on graduating!!" Iruka told him.
"Lookin' good, Naruto~!" April added with a grin, giving him a thumbs up, as he stared up at them in surprise.
"All right, let's celebrate!" Iruka said brightly. "I buy you some ramen!"
"Eh, shouldn't we get you to the hospital first, Sensei?" April asked, raising an eyebrow. "You lost a lot of blood…"
"Hey, don't underestimate me!" Iruka said with a wry smile. "I'm a veteran shinobi, after all." April laughed. Well, that was a relief.
"Hm?" She said when she noticed how quiet Naruto was. "Naru—"
"Iruka-sensei!!" Naruto cried happily, glomping their injured teacher so hard that they both fell to the ground.
"Pfft!" April laughed, covering her mouth, as she watched the heart-warming and somewhat comical scene. 'Good for you, Naruto!' She thought, smiling warmly.
"Ouch! Hey, that hurts!" Iruka said, chagrined. Maybe a trip to the hospital wasn't such a bad idea, after all. 'Well, I was going to lecture them that the hard part of being a shinobi had just begun… but I guess I'll save that for the ramen place…' He thought with a smile.